Europa League Opta Facts - April 25

Basel v Chelsea
This is Basel's first ever appearance in a European semi-final.
Chelsea, meanwhile, have made 11 previous semi-finals in European competition, making the final on four occasions.
Chelsea's one previous encounter with Swiss opposition in Europe (excluding qualifiers) saw them lose 1-2 on aggregate to St Gallen in the 2000/01 UEFA Cup first round.
Basel's victory over Tottenham was their first ever knockout victory over an English side; they had previously suffered defeats to Newcastle (UEFA Cup 2003/04) and Middlesbrough (UEFA Cup 2005/06).
In terms of individual matches, Basel have only won two of 15 games against English sides (2-0 v Middlesbrough in March 2006 and 2-1 v Manchester United in December 2011).
Chelsea have lost consecutive away games in Europe; they have not lost three in a row (excluding qualifiers) since May 2005.
This match will be Chelsea's 62nd of the season in all competitions.
Basel are unbeaten in their last eight home games in Europe, winning six and drawing two.
The Swiss side have scored six goals from corners in the Europa League this season, a competition-high.

Fenerbahce v Benfica
Benfica's only previous European tie against Fenerbahce saw them win the first leg 7-0 on home soil, eventually progressing 7-1 on aggregate, these games coming way back in 1975.
Indeed, Benfica have never scored a goal in an away game against a Turkish side (played two, one 0-1 defeat and one 0-0 draw).
This will be Benfica's 13th appearance in a major European semi-final; After winning eight of their first 10, they have lost the last two in a row (1994 CWC and 2011 EL).
Fenerbahce are making their first ever appearance in a major European semi-final.
The Turkish giants have won 12 and lost just two of their last 19 European games (D5).
Fenerbahce have kept seven clean sheets in their last 10 European games.
Benfica are unbeaten in nine European games, winning seven and drawing two.
Oscar Cardozo has scored six goals in Europe this season, despite making just five starts (11 appearances in total).
The Paraguayan striker has scored 17 goals in the Europa League since it was rebranded ahead of the 2009/10 season; only Falcao (30) has more.
No team in the Europa League has kept more clean sheets this season than Fenerbahce (seven).

24.04. (Wed) 20:45 Borussia D. - Real

PROBABLE LINEUPS

DORTMUND
Weidenfeller
Piszczek, Subotic, Hummels, Schmelzer
Bender, Gundogan
Kuba, Gotze, Reus
Lewandowski

REAL MADRID
Lopez
Ramos, Pepe, Varane, Coentrao
Khedira, Alonso
Di Maria, Ozil, Ronaldo
Higuain

Borussia Dortmund will have the luxury of naming a full strength line-up for the visit of the Spanish champions, with Mats Hummels having got some minutes under his belt in recent weeks following a hamstring injury.

Meanwhile, Sven Bender and Ilkay Gundogan will see off competition from former Blancos midfielder Nuri Sahin and club captain Sebastian Kehl to start in the middle of the park, with Jakub Blaszczykowski preferred to Kevin Grosskreutz on the wing.

Meanwhile, Real Madrid have a few injury worries ahead of their visit to the Westfalenstadion. With Alvaro Arbeloa suspended, Sergio Ramos will start at right-back, with Pepe and Raphael Varane at the heart of the defence.

Marcelo has a hamstring knock, meaning Fabio Coentrao will start at left-back. Elsewhere, Jose Mourinho's men will be more or less at full strength, though Luka Modric and Karim Benzema are nursing minor injuries.

DID YOU KNOW?

Borussia Dortmund overcame Real Madrid in the group stage this season, triumphing 2-1 at home and drawing 2-2 away.

Midfielder Nuri Sahin spent one season at the Santiago Bernabeu and a loan period at Liverpool before returning to BVB in January.

Jurgen Klopp's side are the only unbeaten team in the competition and knocked Malaga out in the last round.

Real Madrid have won just once on 24 visits to Germany and crashed out of the Champions League to Bundesliga opposition at this stage last season.

Star playmaker Mesut Ozil was born in Dortmund's Ruhr heartland and started his career at local rivals Schalke.

Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 11 goals in the Champions League this season. He needs three more to match Lionel Messi's total from last year.

Prediction
Real Madrid have quality and experience superior to that of Dortmund but Jurgen Klopp's side have proved that they are not to be taken lightly this season. The visitors have a poor record in Germany, and I'd expect the hosts to take a narrow advantage back to the Spanish capital.

Editor's Prediction
Dortmund 2-1 Real Madrid